


On A Whim

by JMount74



Series: Fluffember 2020 [19]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:08:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27642571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74
Summary: Whims hit us all from time to time, usually terrible ideas that just have to be done....The Tracy boys are no exception.
Series: Fluffember 2020 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997284
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	On A Whim

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Godsliltippy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Godsliltippy/gifts).



> One with a whimsical face spoke freely;  
> “I?—I sought some stir,  
> Some urge in living,  
> Some sense in dying.  
> I sought a mountain top  
> With a view!”
> 
> The Reasons, by Isabel Ecclestone Mackay, 1875-1928

If you asked Alan why he was here, stuck on top of the mountain – ok, the volcano – on the island, he would shrug (safely) and simply reply: It seemed like a good idea at the time.

John and Scott would both roll their eyes at that statement, well used to their younger brothers’ whimsical attitudes to things like planning, safety, communication. And, yeah, even Virgil was prone to acting on a whim, although his were usually safer as they involved painting. Usually safer.

In fact, all the Tracy boys were subject to acts of whimsy, allowing the feeling in the moment lead them into the most ridiculous and disastrous encounters.

Scott, of course, was first. He had taken John and Virgil into the woods behind their grandparents home. At six, four and three respectively, it had been (foolishly) thought that the boys couldn’t get up to too much there, and if they got hurt it would probably be only from falling over tree roots. Ruth had laughed when Jeff had suggested they could go there safely, she remembered what Jeff was like, even if he didn’t remember himself! 

Their mom and dad were having a few days alone before the new baby was born – Gordon, they had been told – and so they had gone into the woods to explore. There were strict instructions to follow: don’t climb the trees, don’t throw stuff, be back for lunch, do as Scott tells you. Ok, that last one was from Scott.

They had been exploring the woods for about an hour. Virgil was getting tired, and to be honest, John was too. Scott – well he had endless energy, and he was as bouncy as he had been when they set out. If anything – he was worse. So when they stumbled across a little stream with a tree-trunk bridge, Scott naturally wanted to explore while John and Virgil were on the verge of asking to go home.

Ask they did, and a very disappointed but good older brother took them home. By the time that they arrived Grandma was getting lunch ready and the two youngest promptly sat down in the kitchen and waited, while Scott – still full of energy – ran around the back garden pretending to be a Boeing 747, a plane his father had introduced him to last summer. Ruth smiled fondly at all three. There was no doubt in her mind that John and Virgil would crash out after eating, probably sleeping most of the afternoon. Scott, well, he was a different kettle of fish. Maybe he would, but he hadn’t burnt as much energy as normal this morning, so she’d reserve judgement on her eldest grandson.

It was several hours later. It had started to get dark, and the back yard was full of friends and neighbours. Scott had been missing for four hours now, and while it wasn’t the first time he had wandered off, he’d never been gone this long. Sixteen people had gathered to look for him, and the sheriff had taken charge. Mapping the woods out into a grid formation, he was just about to send everyone off when behind him was the distinct sound of the gate separating the farm from the woods swinging shut.

A hush fell over the crowd as they watched for whoever was coming over the hill. It appeared to be a very small mud man, and soon the group gave way to two very upset brothers, hurtling towards the figure. While the three were embracing, the crowd dispersed with some relief, leaving the sheriff, Grant and Ruth staring at the mess that was now their three grandchildren. The sheriff chuckled and wished them well with the mess; and left too.

Once the three boys untangled themselves, Ruth and Grand held a council of war regarding how to get three muddy boys upstairs to the bath without getting mud through the house. Grant had suggested the hose. Ruth wasn’t so sure. It was winter, and she knew Lucy could do without catching a cold.

In the end they hosed the boys down – to squeals of delight – and rushed them all into a hot bath. Thank goodness Grant was tall and broad, they had a specially made bath to fit his frame, and it was easily big enough for three little boys. While they were now playing in the bubbles, his grandparents asked what Scott had been up to.

Seemingly oblivious to the trouble he had caused, Scott went on to regale them with the tale of walking back down to the stream, trying to cross the bridge and falling in. It was not really deep enough for swimming, but it had been cold and muddy, and it had meant that Scott was not sure the way home. So he climbed a nearby tree. This took hours! Once at the top he could see for miles! Working out the way home, he started to climb down, only to lose his footing halfway and landing in the mud again.

‘But why did you do it Scott? Didn’t you think about how worried you made us all?’  
‘Sorry Grandma. I just thought suddenly it would be a good thing to do.’

Ruth sighed. His dad had had almost exactly the same whim at his age, at least Scott hadn’t broken anything. She turned to the other two. ‘Let that be a lesson to you both. Don’t go getting it into your heads to ‘just’ go and do something. It usually ends in disaster.’ They nodded seriously. She knew their turn would come. In the meantime, she made a mental note to get Jeff to introduce Scott to the Rescue Scouts. It sounded just the thing for his active mind.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

John and Virgil’s whim, while not so worrying, was equally dramatic. The two quietest brothers often spent long periods of time together, one reading while the other painted, so it had come as no surprise when they disappeared together. Lucy wasn’t worried. They were the most level-headed of her five boys, and seldom got into any trouble. The land that had come with the farm was quite vast, and they were free to go almost anywhere as long as she and Jeff knew where it was.

‘Mom, John and I are just popping down to the lake to paint if that’s alright.’ Eight years old and eager to try out the new sketching pencils he’d got for his birthday, Virgil was hoping that taking his older brother with him would convince his mom to say yes. They usually weren’t allowed near the water unless an adult was with them, but that was because Gordon couldn’t be trusted. 

Lucy knew he had wanted to sketch the water since Scott had given him the pencils, and as John was going with him, she readily agreed – providing they did not go into the water at all. They both promised, so she packed them some cartons of chocolate milk, some cookies and an apple each and they set off.

When both boys arrived home three hours later, soaked to the bone on this hot August day, her first thought was not that they had disobeyed her but rather who had thrown water over them? She listened, incredulously, as they explained what had occurred.

They had spent the first hour reading and sketching as planned. Then John decided he needed to walk around for a bit. Coming to the other side of the lake, there was a kayak. A two-seater kayak. It was obviously old from the leaf litter inside it, but John – his interest now fully piqued – wanted to see if it would float. After all, there wasn’t a hole in it. Virgil, by this time, had wandered around to find out what had grabbed John’s attention away from the book.

Walking around the kayak as John continued to clear it, Virgil fell over an oar. A paddle, John helpfully corrected him, and could Virgil see if there was two there? There was. What was on his brother’s mind? He asked. And listened patiently while John rattled of Newton’s Second Law of Motion: Force = Mass x Acceleration; and Newton’s Third Law of Motion: When two objects interact they exert equal and opposite forces on each other. Virgil nodded in all the right places. 

So what did his quietist and best-behaved brother want to do? Why, test these laws out. Virgil screwed up his face thinking. 

Mom had said not to go into the water.  
We’re not, we’re going on the water.  
Why was he wanting to do this now?  
Well, we’re here, the kayak is here, why not?

Somewhere in the back of Virgil’s brain he could hear his grandmother saying: ‘don’t just go and do things,’ recalling a very muddy Scott, but John was already pushing the boat thing – kayak – out. 

John fell in first. Getting into the kayak was not as easy as it looked. He managed to clamber over the side. Virgil fell in immediately afterwards doing the same manoeuvre. Then Virgil fell in getting out because he forgot the paddles. And fell in climbing back into the boat. 

They managed to paddle quite a way out onto the water before John decided the best test would be to paddle as hard as possible. That should shoot them forwards at a relative speed. Unfortunately, neither had accounted for a) they had never done this before, b) Virgil was far stronger (already) than John and c) the lake was deceptively shallow.

They went around in circles.

Eventually, and rather quicker than John had imagined, they tired out. Now all they had to do was get to shore. Easier said than done. John had the great idea that they needed to work in tandem with paddling rather than both going at their own speed; with John setting the motion Virgil soon found a matching stride and they shot across the water. Right out onto the shore, holing the kayak.

By now, even in the heat of summer, they were chilled to the core with the shadows cast by the trees, and unhappily decided to head home.

Lucy laughed her head off. Her star boy, deciding on a whim to test Newton’s laws of motion with an old kayak? Just wait until she told Jeff.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Gordon – now Gordon was the king of acting on a whim. Virtually nothing was planned through to the last – unless it was a prank.

Tying Gordon down to just one whim would be like asking Brains which asteroid he liked the best, or Penny which shade of pink was the prettiest.

But if you asked his brothers, they would all say the worst whim he had was the time he and Virgil threw Scott into the sea. A sea full of jellyfish*.

He best whim had been an impromptu party for Virgil after a rescue that ended up with Scott and John needing to rescue them…

Gordon did have a favourite, though. It was the day he volunteered, on a whim, to take Scott’s place escorting Penny into the tomb of the Laughing King. The first time he almost told Penny exactly how he felt for her.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Up until now, however, it had looked like Alan had escaped the ‘I think I’ll just…’ curse. But then, here he was, stuck high near the top of the volcano, and for no better reason than ‘I thought it was a good idea at the time.’

He was an experienced climber, had even done this very climb before, but for some reason he had not thought to change out of his sneakers. It was a miracle he had got this far without falling and breaking his neck. But now he was stuck on a small ledge, one shoe on and one shoe lost to the jungle below.

John suddenly appeared before him.

‘Alan.’  
‘John.’  
‘What are you doing, Alan?’  
‘Oh, you know. I was going stir crazy at home so thought I’d take some air.’  
‘You thought climbing the volcano would be a good idea?’  
‘Something like that.’  
‘In your sneakers?’  
‘You know me – I like to live dangerously!’  
‘Uh huh.’  
‘…’  
‘John.’  
‘Yes, Alan?’  
‘We, err, we don’t need to let Scott know about this, do we?’  
‘What, that you’re stuck on the volcano Scott specifically said was not safe to climb without telling someone you were going to?’  
‘Well, yes.’  
‘That you promised you would never do?’  
‘Yeess.’  
‘That you climbed on a whim because you were…bored?’  
‘Yeeesss.’  
‘And you didn’t tell anyone about?’  
‘Yeeeessss.’  
‘The volcano from which you just could have fallen and died on?’  
‘Yeeeeesssss.’  
‘No, I don’t have to tell Scott.’

Alan let out a sigh of relief.  
It was short-lived as Scott – a real-life, fire-breathing Scott – suddenly popped up dead in front of him, almost causing him to lose his grip and fall. Steadying Alan, Scott smirked at him, and matching smirking John and Virgil and Gordon holograms appeared beside his oldest brother.

‘He didn’t need to let me know as EOS let everyone know you were in trouble.’  
‘I am not in trouble!’  
‘Yeah, right, Alan. Where is your shoe?’  
‘Err…’  
‘How are you going to climb down with only one shoe?’  
‘I can manage!’

Here, Scott backed off, and Alan was suddenly acutely jealous of his jet pack.

‘Go on, then.’  
‘Fine!’

He didn’t move, as his brothers were well aware that he would not. He was not an idiot.  
No he wasn’t!

Scott came back and hovered beside him as the familiar sound of Two filled the air. This was definitely the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him. 

And that included that time with Kayo…

**Author's Note:**

> *reference made to Look Before You Leap – an excellent story by Godsliltippy.


End file.
